Social cognitive theory by Albert Bandura posits that individuals will learn through observing others in their direct social environment, their experiences and other outside sources ( Nabavi, 2012) . It is an indication that an individual, especially a child will learn through observing new behaviors in their environment, cognitive competencies and judgmental standards. Measurement of behaviors learned through observational learning can be done through observing such behaviors in the children and determining the level to which the environment has influenced the child’s behavior choice. Determining the level of influence will be through identifying the intensity of the behavior in the child or the individual especially the number of times the child behaves in that manner in a given period. Such a period can be a day, three days, a week or even months.
Social cognitive theory also promotes abstract modeling as a strategy for learning new behavior. Abstract modeling involves the acquisition of the rules by which an individual behaves in the manner they do ( Nabavi, 2012) . For instance, a child may learn from a parent that hard work will result in a given reward. It is especially so for parents who offer rewards to their children when they do their chores or perform well in school. A child will learn that the rule for a good reward is hard work. Therefore, the child will adopt this rule as he or she grows up and uses it in achieving what they would want in life. When measuring behavior that occurred through abstract modeling, one can identify life skills that have been passed down from parent, guardian or mentor to child/individual and how these have resulted in the development of new behavior by the learner.
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Reference
Nabavi, R. T. (2012). Bandura’s social learning theory & social cognitive learning theory. Availavle online in https://www. researchgate. net/publication/267750204 .
